March 23, 2009
Persistence
Sometimes it is really great to have a garage full of various tools. It turned out that one of the brake hoses that PECO worked on for me did not function correctly. Upon examination of the hose, I noticed that one of the connectors was cracked from over tightening. PECO was really good about replacing the fittings on both hoses at no charge, again, while I waited. On the weekend, I put the hoses on the bike and still no brakes on the RH side.
I removed the caliper to inspect and it looked fine. Then I blew compressed air through the hose and it seemed kind of congested. I removed the screw-on fitting connecting the flange (attached to the hose). I then tried to run compressed air through the hose. Much better! Next step was to try blowing the blockage out of the fitting. No luck.
I reached for the bailing wire. Too thick. On to the utility wire: right thickness, but too soft to push the blockage through. By this point I was pretty sure that I had found the source of the problem. The smallest drill bit in the box fit the fitting. Putting the drill on the slowest setting, I reamed the fitting. A substance resembling wax emerged through the other end and coated the drill bit. After passing the bit through several times and collecting as much wax as I could, I sprayed WD-40 in the passage and blew everything out with compressed air. Nice having a compressor around when you need one!
End result: Brakes bled successfully! Now I am ready to take the F1 for an inaugural spin up in the mountains!
Posted by Underblog at 6:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 12, 2009
Old School
The folks at PJ's sent me to PECO on 2nd St to get my brake hoses made. Doing so would speed things up and eliminate the middle man. I guess I spend enough there that they showed me a little kindness.
Anyway, I went over to PECO on my lunch break, forewarned by a colleague that I might be in for one of those "What is this off of?" conversations. Invariably those discussions are longer than they need to be since if the person has to ask they do not encounter much custom work.
Fortunately, I did not have such a conversation with the fellow behind the counter. Instead, he disappeared into the shop with my hoses. While I wondered what he was doing with my hoses, I struck up small talk with PECO's proprietor Tom Stewart. We shot the bull for a while, talking Trail 90's, R69 US's, and Aermacchi's until the Martin emerged from the back with a brand new pair of hoses, made while we chatted. Tom knows many of the old school vendors in town, including my neighbor at the welding shop. Old school vendors like Tom are the best thing about living in an urban environment: Folks who know their s*** and know the other folks in town who are just as well-informed. I am looking forward to becoming better acquainted with this community.
Posted by Underblog at 7:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 9, 2009
I Got It Bad, and That Ain't Good
As fun as the F650 is as a general purpose daily driver, spring has arrived in New Mexico and it is time for it to go. I purchased the F650 as to test the proposition that Roomie might enjoy going for rides longer than just across the river. That proposition has been proven, and Roomie and I have traveled up NM 4 and 14, to Chimayó and Taos, and roads in between, all enjoyable.
But the single comes up short in the potenza department. In addition, the tall profile allows the wind to buffet the bike around coming down the hill from Santa Fe. I have found a replacement bike for sale locally and have a handshake agreement to purchase it. 'Twould be nice to sell the F first before stuffing an eighth motorcycle in the garage, but at some point before the first major road ride of the season, I will want to pull the trigger on the new beauty.
Posted by Underblog at 6:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 8, 2009
Brakes
One factor affecting my riding behavior on the F1 is the weak braking from the front. Readers may recall that the fluid was just about empty when I took delivery of the bike, and that subsequent investigation revealed a small bead of fluid at one of the brake line fittings. I reckon the F1 deserves to stop as well as she goes, so I am taking the old off to get some new made here in town.
I picked up some Ferodo pads at PJ's to replace the fluid-soaked old ones.
Also, I thought I would replace the clutch cover with the spare that the PO included in the sale. Trouble is, it is not the right one. Evidently, Ducati made a couple of different versions of clutch actuating pistons. Mine is the smaller of the two and the spare supplied is the larger. Not sure which is best, but I need either a smaller-piston cover or a larger-piston piston & spring to replace what I have now.
Posted by Underblog at 7:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack